Of course Auburn beat Houston in Houston one day after the team’s flight had to be diverted because two players got into a fight in the air.
Of course that’s what happened.
Because, I mean, in the history of the sport, who is better at successfully coaching through chaos than Auburn’s Bruce Pearl? The man has been investigated at multiple schools, had assistants hit with show causes and felony charges, had players suspended by the NCAA — but almost never been unsuccessful. Throw whatever weird thing in front of him, and it rarely matters. Pearl just endures and keeps winning. So, in that context, his Tigers upsetting Houston 74-69 late Saturday is like the least surprising thing ever.
“That’s Auburn being Auburn,” Pearl yelled to some fans afterward.
I couldn’t agree more.
As for the fight on the plane, Pearl offered little.
“It’s an unfortunate situation and we’re dealing with it head-on,” he said. “I’m really not going to comment on it tonight.”
I realize some won’t be satisfied by that answer. I get it. But I can also appreciate Pearl saying little if the alternative would’ve been him discounting things with silly terms like “horseplay.” Or, even worse, flat lying. Either way, I look forward to seeing what’s next for the players reportedly involved — freshman forward Jahki Howard and senior forward Ja’Heim Hudson,
Back to the game, Tahaad Pettiford, the five-star freshman, came off of Auburn’s bench and led the Tigers with 21 points, three rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes. While acknowledging it’s still (way) early, it’s not crazy to think Auburn’s Johni Broome and Pettiford could win SEC Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively. They’re both terrific and among the reasons Auburn is up to No. 3 in Sunday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Kansas remains No. 1 for the seventh straight day to start this season.